Calgarians continue to exceed the daily target of 450 million litres and officials are reminding residents that ignoring the outdoor water restrictions could result in fines.
In Thursday’s daily update, officials say Calgary’s water usage the day before was 494 million litres, one per cent less than Tuesday but still above the threshold needed.
City of Calgary general manager of infrastructure services Michael Thompson says the city’s bylaw education teams have been out in the community reminding Calgarians that the city is under Stage Four water restrictions meaning there is no outdoor water usage allowed.
“This morning, our education teams were out in the community to ensure that Calgarians know we are in Stage Four water restrictions. To their amazement, they came across dozens of homes and businesses with automatic irrigation systems running this morning,” he said, adding residents need to ensure their automatic systems are turned off.
“I cannot stress enough that we simply do not have the water available right now for people to water their lawns, gardens and plants using treated water.”
Officials say they are monitoring and documenting houses using sprinkler systems and those homes will be reported to bylaw officers. Calgarians that are caught misusing water outdoors during these Stage 4 restrictions could face a $3,000 fine.
This round of water restrictions began on Monday due to more work on the Bearspaw water feeder and Calgary hasn’t hit the target yet, exceeding the water usage limit each day.